The Shining
by BleedingCoffee
Summary: The Mustangs are sequestered in an old Hotel with the homunculus awaiting the promised day. Can Roy stay sane and protect Riza and his son Maes until help arrives? RoyAi and The Shining.
1. Highway To Hell

**Disclaimer**: I don't own FMA or the Shining

**Summary:** A submission for fma_fic_contest that is getting expanded on. This is a crossover with The Shining, which worked way too well for this. An Alternative path to the Promised Day. RoyAi

**AN:** 4-8-15 Did some editing and reworked the last chapter. I've never been happy with how I ended this and it's bothered me since I posted it. Just one of those stories I wanted to be done with so I rushed to finish and it's haunted me.

* * *

_The Shining_

**Chapter 1**

Highway to Hell

* * *

Roy looked at his bloodshot eyes in the reflection of the mirror behind the bar and set the shot glass back down on the worn mahogany bar-top he was leaning on. It was 0400, Riza was asleep and his son was snuggled up in bed beside her in the caretaker's quarters. Yet here he sat at the bar, unable to sleep and unable to turn his mind off.

He ran his hands through his hair and thought about his long list of mistakes. A lifetime of mistakes that lead to him sitting here in an empty ballroom staring at the man he hated most, himself. He really didn't know where to begin on his daily dose of self-loathing and attempts to kill his liver. Should he start tonight at his war crimes? Perhaps revisit his best friend's death? Oh, no.. it was Thursday. It was time to remind himself about how he let everyone down, including the woman he loved. It was his favorite day, the day it all came crashing down.

It was innocent enough, he loved her and she loved him. Why wouldn't they make something of it? He was her commander, she his subordinate...but what did that matter to a man looking to take down his Fuhrer? I mean, really, when compared to treason and a coup d'etat what was a little fraternizing? She kept him sane and safe, he gave her the love she always wanted and deserved...it was perfect. They were going to climb to the top together and change the world.

Then something they relied on too readily failed them: something so simple as her state issued, government manufactured birth control. Something Bradley later chuckled about as he rattled off the list of reasons why the Hero of Ishval was being dishonorably discharged. It was funny because a man of his reputation, a philanderer, should have covered all the bases. However at that moment when she stood in front of him and told him they were going to be having a baby he could safely say it was one of the happiest moments he had ever experienced in his life.

That was, until reality set in. Colonel Roy Mustang had knocked up his Lieutenant. He would figure it out, he had a way to come up with plan for everything. She'd just resign, they'd get married and along would come Maes nine or more like seven...six months later. They were going to have a family, _them,_ and they were going to do it right because they had both lived the childhood that should have never have been allowed to happen. He lost his parents and she did too since her father was just a hallow shell after her mother died. They were going to give their kid the life they didn't have and they were finally going to be a real family. Everyone would rejoice, as for some reason it was something way too many people fantasized about even to the point of having a code word, RoyAi, for the couple everyone just adored. Well, everyone adored it until it became a full blown scandal and he got them both fired, destroyed his goals and let everyone down.

It was clever, nobody could ever accuse Furhur Bradley of not being a cunning man or monster, whatever the hell he was. He knew they were together, that little shit Pride had been watching them screw on damned near everything in his office. Bradley had Riza's prescription altered, she was taking sugar pills instead of birth control, and he gave it two months before requiring them all to have blood drawn for medical records. Or was is for some vaccination? Shit if he knew, he didn't read the announcement. He just did as Riza told him to and flirted with the nurses as they groped his arm. He had to keep up appearances and it wasn't hard when he had four nurses fawning over him in the infirmary.

The end result was that he was in Grumman's office looking at the results of a blood test for his girlfriend, his lieutenant, the love of his life. Roy could just imagine what he looked like, his jaw must have been on the ground and he must have looked like a ghost. He could play off so much but standing there seeing that the military now knew Riza was pregnant made him almost pass out. The old man barely concealed his joy and tried his best to pretend he was upset that his unmarried granddaughter was having a baby. He hugged him and helped him figure out how to proceed to avoid it becoming to big of a problem. Grumman had apparently gotten a few girls pregnant in his time and knew way too much about dancing around the rules. Roy never thought he'd find comfort in that kind of information, but in that moment it was a blessing.

He left Grumman's office confident, he had a plan! He just had to let Riza know that the secret was out and they had to act fast. Convenient time for the Fuhrer to be visiting Eastern Command. _Convenient indeed._ He practically walked into him as he left Grumman's office. For the second time that day, he felt his heart stop as Bradley's smile made the color drain from his face. What happened next was a whirlwind of questions, accusations and threats. Bradley sat him down, told him what was going to happen and informed him that he had brought this all on himself. Roy Mustang got his best friend killed, not anyone else. Roy Mustang got his lover pregnant and ruined her promising career along with his own. That day it really sucked to be Roy Mustang. Especially since he was going to be escorted out of the office today and leaving his title of Colonel and State Alchemist behind him.

Bradley chuckled while he sat in Grumman's chair and told him everything. _ Everything._ He was getting tired of the meddling, he was tired of hearing about Mustang this, or Mustang that and quite frankly he just wanted him to go sit this one out and wait his turn. They had plans for him and until the Promised Day, he really just needed to be a good boy and forget about saving the world. Right now he had a family to worry about and unless he wanted his son to grow up without a father, just as Roy had, then it was time to accept the consequences and move on. It hit him hard, not the threat of being executed for treason, but the idea of leaving his kid to grow up without a father.

He accepted everything without protest and by the end of the day he was just an ordinary citizen. Even his State Alchemist certification had been ripped from him, just for good measure. He couldn't be trusted. He violated the rules. He was a despicable man who took advantage of his adjutant and abused his power and privileges. Oh, and don't make us bring up what you did during the war. It would be a shame if that information leaked to the press, wouldn't it _Mr._ Mustang?

He did try to salvage it, he used his savings to give Riza the wedding she deserved. Everyone was confident the storm would pass and Mustang would rise up from this and climb back out of the ashes. It never did. Five years later, he was still blacklisted. Bradley made sure he couldn't get a job. His business failed. His life was in shambles and he could barely support his wife and kid. He was back to tending bar at Christmas's place just like he had done as a cadet. Although he was grateful for the childhood his foster Mom had given him, he wasn't about to let his boy grow up in a bar like he did. So when the job offer came for the caretaker position at this damned hotel he didn't scrutinize it, he didn't ask why someone would try to extend a helping hand and help get him back on his feet. He didn't ask questions and jumped at the opportunity, placing him right back in the employ of his favorite homunculus, King Bradley.

So here he sat drinking in the ballroom of an old hotel in the North that was shut down for the season due to the impassable roads and the horrid snowstorms. A caretaker of a hotel in the middle of nowhere where he could be watched and forgotten. It was also a way to push him over the edge and drive him mad. Apparently the Overlook Hotel had a way of doing that to it's caretakers. What a lovely piece of property to have in the investment portfolio, Fuhrer sir. A imposing Goliath of a building in the frozen tundra of the North, warm and welcoming when it needed to be and a cold, creepy prison when nobody was watching. Fucking homunculus.

"Another drink?"

Roy cocked an eyebrow as Envy strolled over with a new bottle of some whiskey from the basement and interrupted his thoughts. "Not going to bother to change shape today?"

"Nah..." The homunculus shrugged. "What's on the agenda today, Mustang? Do you hate yourself enough today to kill your family? Huh? That nagging bitch and that brat of yours must be getting on your nerves?"

"You're the only nagging bitch I want to kill." Roy muttered. Then there was _that_. The fact that they wanted him to go crazy and kill the people he cherished most in this fucked up world. It was getting old. "You voyeuristic assholes need to find a different hobby."

"Come on Mustang, what's a little human transmutation on top of everything else you've done?" Envy leaned over. "You know she hears you talking to me and thinks you're already crazy. It's why she locks the door at night when you get up and leave. She thinks you're going to go all Barry the Chopper on them and hack up the bedroom with a cleaver."

"Not my style." He mumbled. "Ask Lust...oh wait you can't. I barbecued that bitch a long time ago."

"That was where you went too far." Envy smiled. "You killed one of us, that's a feat. That made you dangerous."

"Good to know." Roy smirked and flicked Envy between the eyes. "You're next."

"Doubtful." Envy frowned. "You're hardly_ that_ ambitious anymore. Without me harping at you you'd forget to go check on the boiler in the basement everyday."

"What a use for flame alchemy! Tending to the boiler room in an old hotel so the pressure doesn't blow the place up." Roy looked at his drink. "Kimblee apply for the job too? Blowing shit up and wearing white seems like it would be right up his alley."

"You're so funny." Envy said dryly. "Still cracking jokes, we'll see who's doing the laughing when we're helping you draw transmutation circles on the ballroom floor while your family looks at you through unseeing eyes. I think it's going to be interesting to see how Lust does in your wife's body. You think you're jealous now, wait til she gets a makeover and every man alive is drooling over your woman. Pride wants your body next, arrogance being your downfall he thinks it's pretty ironic. Plus he's sick of being a little boy. He's thinking that with your good looks he could take over this country without much of a fight. Wrath is getting old, eventually someone will wonder how he doesn't age. I'm actually going to laugh when he's throwing temper tantrums as your son. What the perfect family! What a legacy the Mustang name will have. Interesting to see how it plays out, it will be entertaining for sure."

"Well I'd appreciate it if you toned down the entertainment." Roy hissed. "I don't want Maes playing with Pride in the playground igloo, you morphing into some melting burn victim in the bathtub in room 237 or those damned chimera hedge animals stalking my boy. Leave my kid alone."

"He's a prodigy." Envy said. "You should teach him alchemy."

"I won't." He snapped. "Because he deserves to be a kid. Even if it's in a haunted hotel on the Drachma border with a pair of homunculus assholes. "

"Hey now, Pride is his "imaginary friend" Tommy." Envy enjoyed using the air quotes and flashed his teeth at him. "Don't confuse the poor boy. You keep enough secrets, it's getting hard for you to juggle them all."

"I just want to know why the hell he's writing RedRum on every mirror in the house." Roy narrowed his eyes at the thing in front of him as Envy swirled his finger around in the whiskey.

"Spell it backwards." Envy smirked. "Riza already did."

_RedRum...Murder_. Roy got off his bar stool and turned away. He didn't know how much more they were going to be able to take of this. Between cabin fever and the homunculus trying to tear apart his family he really didn't know if he was going to keep it together. He was always teetering on the edge of losing his temper, they infuriated him by taunting his son. He just wanted to watch them writhe in the flames and delight in the screams, but at the same time he feared becoming that man. He was terrified that he would lose it and finally unleash the hell they were asking for and become a monster just like them. Just like they were asking him to do. "Well your company just about killed my mood. I'm going to bed. See you two in the basement again at noon."

"Sweet Dreams, Roy." Envy cooed as the man walked out of the bar. He tapped his fingers on the bar-top and wondered why the damned human was being so stubborn. He saw it in him, he saw Mustang's fingers rub together every time he struck a nerve and wondered how much more they were going to have to push to get him to break. Father wanted him as a human sacrifice which meant that they had to get him to perform human transmutation. That was the whole point of this ridiculous vacation, to have Mustang take that next step and turn himself into the perfect sacrifice. They took everything from him and now all he had was his family...and if he lost his family he had nothing else to lose and would willingly give whatever truth wanted to have them back. Then they'd have their sacrifice and also eliminate the alchemist they worried about the most. Whatever Truth would take from him to give him back his family would not come cheap.

* * *

"Daddy?"

Roy looked over at Maes as he let himself back into the main area of the caretaker's quarters hoping to not wake Riza. He glanced at the clock on the wall. 0500. Several lights were on and his son was wrapped up in a blanket on the old sofa chair with an alchemy book on his lap. He couldn't read, but he liked to copy the transmutation circles onto his sketchpad with his crayons. "Hey kid, what's wrong?"

"Bad dream."

Roy knelt down and his son came over, happy to be lifted up into his arms. "I have those too sometimes. Want to tell me about it?"

"Tommy said you were going to hurt us."

"Tommy is a damned liar." Roy growled. Fucking Pride! He hoped that little shit was lurking in the shadows with his stupid little eyes and tendrils. He didn't know which one of the enemies he wanted to destroy next, Pride or Envy. At least Envy could hold a conversation, Pride was creepy as hell and obnoxious.

"Can we go home?"

Roy sat down in the plush sofa chair and let Maes rest on his lap. He picked up the sketchpad and noticed the kid had used a glass to trace for a perfect circle. he was resourceful. "Snow is moving in, it's a bit too late to leave. Besides, it's my job to keep this place safe."

Riza walked into the main living area and looked at them. Maes stood and hugged his father, clearly unable to rationalize the bad feelings the hotel gave him in addition to the bad omens Pride whispered in his ear. "Come to bed, both of you."

Roy looked up at her and smiled. The one thing they couldn't take from them was how they could look at each other: they could always read each other's eyes. Pride couldn't see what they were saying to each other in silence, no matter what shadows he was lurking in. He might hate himself for getting his family into this hell, but his wife still loved him and believed in him. She'd always have his back, no matter what mess he managed to get them into. Always his lieutenant, by his side in whatever hell he lead them into. Now if he could just figure out how to stop making bad decisions. He held Maes close to his chest and stood up, then walked over to her.

Riza kissed him as he stopped in the doorway to look at her. She ran her hand through his dark hair and down his scruffy cheek. She hated when he couldn't sleep and walked the hotel by himself. She knew they preyed on his self-esteem and kept the fire stoked with whiskey to ensure he stayed unstable. However they had to think they were breaking them down, they had to think that after five years of taking away everything Roy had worked for that they finally had him beaten. It killed her to allow that to happen. Inside he was like a broken glass, the cracks were there and it was only a matter of time before they finally won and the glass shattered. She hated watching those cracks expand because neither one of them knew when it would be one too many.

He leaned into her touch and she gave him a reassuring smile. Let Pride and Envy think they won, the cockier they got the more careless they were. As for the Mustangs, they had those two exactly where they wanted them; Isolated in a old combustible hotel with a very temperamental furnace. Once the Elrics obtained reinforcements from Briggs, this damned place would be their funeral pyre. He gave her a reassuring smile, he wasn't beaten yet.


	2. House of Horrors

_The Shining_

Chapter 2

**The House of Horrors**

* * *

"Use the Shining to make the pancakes better. I can help draw the wheels." Maes Mustang chirped authoritatively as he pushed his plate of breakfast over to his Dad and gave him a napkin and crayons to work with.

Riza smirked as Roy started to sketch out a transmutation circle to do just that. Their son referred to the alchemic glow as "The Shining" thanks to something Pride had said. Then there was the fact that he was just five and anything circular was a wheel. Roy had given up trying to correct him and simply let the boy have his innocent description of his talents. It was better than calling it magic and one day Maes would be old enough to understand what alchemy was. Until then, it was the Shining and they'd just pretend it was another one of their codes and 'wheels' also worked a little better than "transformer circles". She was glad he was such an intensely curious and creative boy, it made the situation so much easier to swallow. At least one Mustang still retained innocence.

Roy rested his elbow on the table and placed his chin on his hand. "What would you like today?"

"A Chimera."

Roy frowned. _Fucking Pride_. "Riza, sweetheart, maybe we should thinking about getting Maes a little brother or sister to play with. Someone not named Tommy?"

"He has Hayate." She said and the dog wagged his tail as he laid next to her feet at the stove. "Or are you just not seeing past the idea of making that new sibling?"

"It's going to be a long winter..." He smirked at her, it had been a while. Leave it to them to have a child who had an uncanny knack for walking in on them during or before sex. It flustered Riza more than him, but that was really all it took to kill the mood. He winked at her and gave her a grin hoping it would be enough to start her thinking about where they might sneak off to.

She returned the smile, letting him know that the attention would be more than welcome if they could catch a break. Unfortunately it was impossible to go unnoticed by Pride or Envy and one of them always pointed Maes in the right direction to interrupt their affections. She wasn't sure if they were planning to drive Roy insane with this hell on earth or the lack of sex with his wife. He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her his best seductive smirk, asking if it was a possibility this morning. She pointed the spatula at the pancakes on the table. "Make the kid some chimera pancakes before your mind drifts to the gutter and you make something inappropriate instead."

He stuck his tongue out at her and continued to draw a simple transmutation circle that would turn flat pancakes into a three dimensional chimera. A hotel with 300 damned rooms and they couldn't find one away from prying eyes. He was getting tired of sex in the shower and bathroom, it really limited his moves. Married and still trying to hide their sex life, wasn't that a kick in the ass?

"I thought you fixed the gutters?" Maes asked.

Riza chuckled as Roy chose to distract his son with a winged lion 3-D pancake creation instead of explaining what the statement meant. If they weren't currently being sequestered in a haunted hotel in the snowy mountains by two enemies, this would be a rather pleasant situation. Life hadn't exactly been what she had fantasized about when she and Roy had been 'dating' but she was still happy to be by his side. Something he could never understand because he only saw failure when he looked at the circumstances that lead them here.

The first two years of marriage had been good, even if he was constantly apologizing for ruining their careers, humiliating her and letting everyone down. They had only known adult life in the military, but she adjusted to life without it much easier than he did. He didn't realize how attached he had grown to his titles and how much he took his privileges for granted. It took a while for him to grow used to the fact that the titles of 'husband' and 'father' meant much more than any stars on his shoulders or pocket watch. Now he had found a cause again, the homunculus were beginning to circle and he was ready to protect his family from whatever they were planning. She wished he had his gloves and could roast Pride into a pile of ash, but she had learned that they were going to have to make due with what they were given these days. Unfortunately it meant suppressing panic every time Maes went to a shadowy corner to find his 'imaginary friend'. Knowing Pride was so close to their son had the effect intended, they both played it safe and didn't take unnecessary risks.

"Storm Warning came across the radio this morning." She said and saw him tense but not look at her. She was going to kiss Fuery next time she saw him for his ingenuous way of communicating with them. Though taking a job with the National Weather Service was probably a dream job for him. "Blizzard out of the North probably will hit in the next two days."

Roy poured some syrup over the pancake winged lion so Maes could chow down without having access to the sticky substance. _So the Elrics managed to convince Armstrong to assist us? Probably didn't need much convincing to come down here and mock me, that bitch is going to really rub it in. _"Why don't you let me go hunting this afternoon? I know I'm not as good as you are, but I'd like to take a walk and clear my head before we're snowed in."

"Dad, Mom hunts better. Can you show me how to make wheels?" Maes dug into his pancake creature and put gooey pancake in his mouth. "Tommy says you are scared to teach me. If I learn I can fight the hedge animals. Those bushes hurt."

Riza put her spatula down as Roy looked up at her confused. She forgot to tell him that the hedge animals had scratched Maes up pretty bad. She just didn't want him to fly off the handle and start setting the topiaries on fire. "Tommy got a little rough with his toys."

"I'm going to go check the furnace." Roy said flatly and stood up. _Goddamn Pride_.

"It's not time, Daddy." Maes whined. "Stay and play with me? Show me how to use the wheels."

Roy sat back down as the kid took the napkin he had drawn on and tried to activate it with his tiny hands. Confronting the monster could wait, it's not like anything would come of it. "Ok, first we have to start by you telling me the ingredients to the pancakes. You have to know what things are made of before you can use the Shining to change them. Ok?"

"Eggs, batter and love."

Riza wished they could be having this conversation in some suburban house in Central. Maes would be playing with Elicia Hughes during the day, Roy would be at work and she could be enjoying every minute of this perfect family of hers. Instead she was going to have to worry about him going to the basement and screaming his head off at the shadows and threatening to stuff Pride in the furnace and cremate him. He didn't deserve this. "Eggs are in the batter, Maes."

"Syrup." Maes said. "Batter and love."

"What's in the batter?" Roy asked and dipped a napkin in his coffee cup to wet it, then wiped off some syrup from Maes's chin.

"Flour, eggs..milk and sugar."

"How does the batter change from liquid to solid?" Roy asked and the boy gave him a smile.

"Fire." Maes said and grabbed his father's hand. "Will you give me your gloves someday? Will you teach me how to make the fire?"

Roy glanced to Riza. They had already agreed that there would be no more Flame Alchemists and they would not condemn his son to carry that burden. It was so hard to tell him no, because he so desperately wanted to pass something on to his son that was clearly was his birthright. He knew that it was going to be impossible to keep the kid from asking or trying to figure it out. That was years from now, he had plenty of time to contemplate that. For right now all Maes Mustang knew of alchemy was that the Shining and the Wheels combined to make magic happen. "I don't have my gloves anymore."

"Tommy found them!" Maes said excitedly. "In room 237 with the melting lady! She's going to need a doctor soon, she's getting really mushy in that bathtub. He said her name is Rust."

Roy stiffened and he looked up at Riza. They were taunting him now though his son, the homunculus were toeing a dangerous line.

"Lust?" Riza asked, afraid that the name out of the past was just a coincidence.

"Yup. That's it. She's different now, not like the other lady with the darker skin and red eyes...this lady has big boobies and black hair. She needs her nails done."

Roy's breathe caught in his throat. So now Pride were trying to lure him up there with his gloves? That and the temptation of melting every one of that little shit's eyeballs for putting his son through this? Of course Envy was having a blast shape shifting and he should have figured it was only a matter of time before he changed into Lust too. Though her image wouldn't bother him at all. That Ishvalian woman, however, was still way too fresh a memory. He had been avoiding that room, just one glimpse of his past standing there with her melting skin dropping to the floor had froze him in place. The smell of her charred flesh and hair, the skin sloughing off, the pads of her feet popping and crackling like bacon as she walked through the puddle of blood towards him. He felt Maes's hand on his again, clutching his hand as it has involuntarily started to twitch as he recalled the horror that awaited him in Room 237. He jumped as he heard that popping sound again, the sound of fat boiling and exploding, and realized Riza was just cooking bacon. So much for his appetite.

Riza wondered what the homunculus were up to. She turned the bacon again and looked at his face, a reflection of his struggle in his eyes as he stared at the stove. He refused to tell her what he had seen up there the first time and had simply clung to her in the shower as the water hid his tears. It was enough to make her want to march up there and empty a few magazines into whatever homunculus was torturing her husband, but she had to play along. All she knew was that if she didn't seem scared of this prospect than the homunculus would think she wasn't afraid of her husband. "Roy, please. Go hunting and I'll go check the room."

He looked up at her and felt too tired to put on a show for the audience. This was a nice breakfast, he really wanted to keep it that way and not storm off after being an asshole to his wife. It was an act, but it still hurt them both. "It's _my_ job."

Riza turned off the burner. It was the little details that would sell the monsters in the shadows on their performance. They knew she was more than capable of holding her own in a fight against Roy, so she couldn't play the part of a fearful wife. They knew she had watched his back, protected him and made sure he didn't make foolish decisions, so by removing the flame from the stove she effectively removed any threat from his hand sketching out that new transmutation circle on the napkin. She just had to keep telling herself it was just another mission. Unfortunately it meant he had to suffer alone with the memories, flashbacks and nightmares that kept him walking these halls at night.

"Daddy, please don't get mad." Maes said softly. "I thought you'd want your gloves."

Riza didn't have to act as she held her breath and bit her lip. Maybe they could play the game, but Maes didn't deserve to be in the middle of this. She saw Roy's face and knew he was fighting the same emotions. They really needed to end this soon.

"I..." Roy felt that tiny hand on his again, those worried eyes that no five year old should have to show to anyone. He smiled down at his son. "Maybe you and I should start your alchemy lessons. You're spending too much time playing with Tommy."

"Really?" Maes said hopefully. "Tommy also said you didn't want to teach me because I was an accident."

And once again, the air was sucked out of the room as two parents froze in place because of words they never wanted to hear come from their child's mouth. They both looked at him as he poked at his pancake monster.

"Tommy said...I was a mistake and I ruined your life. So you don't want me to have your gift."

Roy felt that tiny hand squeeze, prodding for his father to say something to explain his imaginary friend's statements. Dying to hear that Tommy was wrong, even though his memories and the pictures in the photo album told a different story. Pictures of a time when he had been important. Roy bent down and placed a kiss on the kid's head. "The moment your Mom told me we were going to have you was one of the best moments of my life."

"Why would Tommy say that if it wasn't true?"

Roy looked at Riza who was still frozen in place, her eyes telling him that she just didn't have any explanations for their son anymore. That the kid did nothing but ask questions and it was getting harder to paint a happy picture on the truth. To hell with it, at this point he wasn't in the running for Father of the Year anyway. "Tommy's Dad doesn't love him because he only cares about his job. Tommy is jealous of you and he's trying to make you as miserable as he is." _Fuck You Pride, I can play this game too._

Riza thought that was a little harsh to tell a five year old, but on the other hand she hoped Pride was listening. She watched Maes perk up, happy to hear the information from his father who he idolized. "It's true Maes, your Dad was so happy when he found out we were going to have you. We love you very much, you didn't ruin anything."

"Tommy does say a lot of mean things." Maes sighed.

"I haven't taught you alchemy because you still don't know how to read." Roy watched him mull that over.

"Then I'll study really hard." He said and smiled up at his father. "When I grow up I'm going to be just like you."

_God I hope not. _Roy gave him a weak smile and looked to Riza with his apologetic eyes. "Time for me to get going or I won't be back by noon."

* * *

The hike into the hills was a welcoming break from the rather demanding guests of the Overlook Hotel. Envy, Pride, Boilermaster 2000 and the five hedge chimera were always doing something or wanting to chat. It was worse than having voices in your head, it was like running a daycare. So this trek into the hills with Riza's rifle slung over his shoulder was nice. The cold didn't bother him as the white parka did it's job to protect him from the Northern chill. Ah, the silence was just amazing.

"Hey, Mustang!" Ed put his hands in his pockets and grinned. "You carrying the guns now?"

Roy shook his head as he turned toward the figure sitting on fallen tree that was blocking the old logging road. Leave it to _him_ to be the one to ruin the peaceful silence. Today, however, it put a smile on his face to see the young man again. To know that his team had never forsaken him. "Well Fullmetal," Roy pushed his hood off and looked at the kid. "It was the best excuse I had to come out here."

"You guys OK?" Ed asked, worried that some evil might have befallen the Mustangs since he last saw them. Not having the Colonel in the thick of the battle against the homunculus was a huge hit to their efforts. Ed didn't realize how much he shielded him and Al or just how much the Colonel and his team handled. Even when he was stripped of rank and just a civilian, Mustang had been a valuable ally and continued to work on a way to expose the monsters and take back the country. As much as they butted heads, Ed enjoyed being a part of the extended Mustang family as much as he did the Hughes and Rockbells.

"As well as can be expected." He sighed. "Pride is Maes's best friend and that kills me."

"Envy still there?" Ed asked. Sgt. Fuery's communications had them up to date with all the happenings here at this stupid hotel. Ed didn't want to ask why Mustang had let himself be lured out here, he knew the reason. You did stupid things when you were looking out for your family. Still it seemed like it could be an opportunity that they were looking for. A way to isolate and kill two more enemies and put Mustang back in play.

"Chatty as ever." Mustang mumbled. "Kimblee still in Briggs?"

"Yeah." Ed said. "Scar put him in the infirmary so they have him drugged up beyond comprehension."

"And Scar is your ally. What an interesting world we're living in now." Roy mused. That one had been a little bit of a shocker. Scar was now on their side. Though leave it to Fullmetal to convince an enraged serial killer to have a change of heart and join the team. And what a team it was.

"Not really friends." Ed said. "So Armstrong's on her way with reinforcements. About a day out."

"Good. I guess I'll have to have a psychotic break tonight." Roy breathed a sigh of relief. After this morning he never wanted his son to think his parents didn't love each other and this act of theirs was tearing them both apart. It was time to take his anger out on room 237 and give Envy a taste of what he could do with a box of matches and a magic marker transmutation circle.

Ed pulled the small package out of his jacket and handed it to Mustang. "Your gift from Breda."

Roy smiled knowing his last pair of gloves was in there. The pair that had been bloodied and ripped by Lust, now repaired by Gracia Hughes skilled hands. "Didn't play with them, did you?"

"No. Perv."

Roy chuckled and opened the envelope. He smiled as he looked at the delicate embroidery and the repairs his best friend's widow had done for him. "Thanks Ed."

"You're planning to come out of there alive, right?" Ed said. "I don't want to be visiting Riza and Maes like we visit Gracia and Elicia. You promise me you're not going to make another kid grow up without a father."

Roy's eyes looked into those intense golden ones and he gave him an unguarded smile. "I promise Ed."

"So what's the plan?"

"I have to keep you out of the shadows to keep you away from Pride's eyes so I can only have you come up the main access road." Roy pulled the napkin from this morning out of his pocket, a map of the Hotel and grounds was drawn on it. He handed it to Ed who immediately flipped it over to look at the transmutation circle on the back. Some things never changed no matter what frozen hell or imminent apocalypse was looming on the horizon, he was drawn to the circle like a magnet and Roy worried he wasn't even listening anymore. "Pride will probably be playing with Maes on the playground. Riza will be out there with them so Pride will be hiding in the igloo trying to call Maes inside so he can tell him more 'secrets' and fuck with my kid. As long as Riza is there, he won't show himself. He's trying to feed Maes lies and can't do that if Riza can refute them. They want my kid to doubt us. Envy doesn't show himself to her at all, he's trying to convince her that I'm nuts."

"You sort of are." Ed smirked. "Sane people don't take on homunculus, try and overthrow the government or take up residence in a haunted hotel to do all that. Oh...and then there is the fact that you have to be certifiably insane to invite General Armstrong down here to save your ass. Talk about never living that down."

Roy smiled. "Wait until you meet the topiary hedge animal chimera."

"Really?" Ed thought about that. "I guess it makes sense that chimera could be plant based as well, it is a living thing..."

Roy frowned. He had done the same thing and Riza smacked him for it. Alchemists apparently were easily distracted by the scientific process. "Ed, Focus. Trap Pride in the igloo. Take out the Chimera. Riza will grab Maes and also cover you."

"Where will you be in all of this?"

"I think I'll have a drink with Envy."

"So what do I do with Pride?"

"Think you can make that igloo into an earthen ball and roll him into the hotel? I remember you making something like that when Maes was little, a little earthen hamster ball he could roll around my Mom's bar and puke in." Roy asked and saw the definitive 'yes' grin. It would be good to have his family back, he missed his team more than he realized after they moved into this dreadful place. "Good, get him in the hotel and we'll incinerate that place and send them both back to hell. We'll roll him up next to that boiler so when it goes, the explosion will crack the earthen shell and expose him to the inferno. That body is his vessel, he can maneuver in the shadows with his tentacles but that vessel is his core. If we can destroy that, we can destroy him. Remember, we have to make them use up their stones."

"Sounds good." Ed nodded. Mustang sounded confident and excited to engage the enemy. It was good to hear that again. "Then it's on to Central."

"Damn right. I got a few things I need to discuss with Bradley." Roy said.

Ed nodded and snapped a smart salute. "See you tomorrow, Colonel."

Roy appreciated the gesture more than he could ever express as his heart swelled. "Let's show them what hell really feels like Fullmetal."

"One more question."

"What's that?"

"Is this pancake alchemy?" Ed showed him the back of the napkin.

"I have a five year old." Roy smirked. "You should see what I can do with macaroni pictures."

Ed chuckled. "I'll look forward to it. Sounds like Maes needs some new friends."

* * *

Riza sat on the bed with the picture album on her lap. Maes was fast asleep on her thigh and Hayate was curled up at her feet. She looked down at a picture of 'Team Mustang' that they had taken on the steps of Eastern HQ, when Roy was still the King and not the caretaker. She closed the album and looked at Maes. What he had said this morning had been like someone stabbed her in the heart. Maybe it was an accident, but they never felt that way.

She slipped away from Maes and pet Hayate when he looked at her. She pointed to her son and the dog put his head back down, obeying his orders to watch over the boy. Then she made her way into the main area and looked at the keys on the wall. Thinking about this morning made her remember the look on Roy's face, that blank look of horror when Maes mentioned room 237. It wasn't curiosity, it was a need to find out what the hell the homunculus were trying to do to him.

She grabbed the master key for the second floor and pulled away the cookbooks on the top shelf in the pantry for her gun. They wanted her to think that Pride was the only one watching them, which was debilitating enough, Envy's presence had been purposely kept a secret from her. He was trying to push Roy over the edge and he was very aware that she was capable of mending any cracks in Roy's mind. So if she thought Roy was just imagining him, then it would be one more crack in the dam that held back his raging emotions. The guilt, the pain, the defeat. Everything that swirled like a whirlpool in his mind to keep him off balance.

So as she walked out of the caretaker quarters and to the elevator she thought about their tactics. To isolate Roy from her would be the first step, then to fuel his despair with alcohol, flashbacks and Maes's innocent statements would be next. Statements fed to him because he didn't know any better, an innocent child trying to understand the unexplainable in this hotel. To disable Roy they would try to push his wife away from him, his Lieutenant who was always by his side was now having to stand aside and let him take this on by himself.

The bell dinged and she stepped into the elevator. So Envy played bartender at night, that wasn't going to be enough to do more than agitate Roy. Pride did everything he could to remind Roy of his failures, as a father, husband and Colonel. So what was it that the two of them did together when they lured him into this room? She looked down at the key as the bell dinged and the doors opened.

She stepped out onto the floor and looked both ways. Seeing nothing she walked to the west to room 237. Maes had said there was a melting woman in the bathtub. So together they were trying to trigger a meltdown because of what he did during the war? The victims of his fire attacks, the people who haunted his dreams were now part of this waking nightmare. It made her want to cry, imagining the agony he was in. She ground her teeth together and put the key in the door. Damn them, damn these monsters for toying with them like this!

She felt a cool breeze as she went to turn the key and all the hairs on her neck and arms stood on end. Reluctantly she turned to her left and saw them. Side by side. The sweet boyish smile of Selim Bradley and right beside him that evil little grin of Pride. How? They were one and the same! Why did they look like a pair of twins!? She trembled, both of them sent chills down her spine.

Pride smiled. "Have you come to play with us, Mrs. Mustang?"


	3. A Descent in to Madness

_The Shining _

Chapter 3

**A Descent in to Madness**

* * *

Riza practically jumped into Room 237 when she saw Pride and Selim in the hall. She slammed the door behind her and put her head against it. How could there be two of them? Pride was in a vessel, the body of Selim Bradley! They were the same being! Unless one of them was just toying with her. Envy was a shape shifter and he could easily pull that off. He wouldn't have to reveal himself to her either, not if he pretended to be Pride or Selim. She calmed herself. If they were both up here with her than they weren't able to be downstairs with Maes or out stalking Roy as he rendezvoused with Edward. That was a good thing.

She turned around as she heard something splash around in the bathroom. She steeled her nerves, there was nothing these monsters could do to them. They were under strict orders to let Roy do all the damage, that much was evident. He was the one who would have to deal the final blow in order to let his grief overwhelm him and not his anger. If they triggered his rage he would make sure this hotel was the end of them all; Envy, Pride and the Flame Alchemist. She reminded herself of that and turned to face whatever demon they were going to try and shake her with.

Riza wasn't prepared to look down into the red eyes of an Ishvalian child. She stood there looking at him, her heart pounding in her ears as she neglected to take another breathe.

"What's wrong, Cadet Hawkeye?" The sweet voice asked. "Don't you recognize me? Do I look that different in person than through the sites of your scope?"

Riza felt her hand shake as she raised it to her mouth.

"I hear it's easier to pull the trigger...that it keeps the blood from staining your hands. It keeps you detached from the horrible things you've done." The child broke down into soft sobs. "Didn't you care that you killed my family? Me...what did I ever do to you?"

She shook her head and backed up against the door as she approached her.

"Perhaps..." The little girl turned back to look at the bathroom as the sound of the overflowing bathtub filled the room. "You should bathe in the blood of your enemies like the barbarian that you are."

Riza looked past her to see the tide of red water, no blood, washing out of the bathroom and around the bed.

"Or drown in it." The child turned around, showing her the back of her head that was missing. Having been blown out by the 30 caliber bullet on the way out of her head. The flow of blood from the bathroom increased and soon the liquid was filling the room at an alarming rate.

* * *

Black Hayate's nose took in a strange scent as he lie on the bed next to his charge. He opened his eyes and sat up, his cackles already standing up and his eyes searching the shadows for what his nose told him was there.

Maes heard Hayate growl and slowly lifted his tired head. He sat up when he realized his Mom wasn't there anymore. "Mom?"

"She's upstairs." Pride said. Envy would keep the woman occupied for a little while, even if it was with his over the top theatrical displays. He walked over to the bed to look the dog in the eye. The mutt growled at him and moved to protect the boy. "Maes, you should put him in the bathroom so he doesn't bite me. They shoot dogs who bite kids."

Maes gasped and wrapped his arms around Hayate's fluffy body. "Hayate, he's my friend Tommy."

Pride wished he could use his tentacles to get the dog out of the way but instead he had to play the part of the sweet little Selim. "Come on, I found something cool that I want to show you!"

Maes pet Hayate's soft fur and suddenly felt a chill. It was like he was having a bad dream, the ones that made him wake up crying. He hugged Hayate, suddenly wanting his Dad to come home and tell Tommy he was 'a damned liar'. His hairs stood on end and he wondered why, if Tommy was his _imaginary_ friend, that Hayate could see him too. His parents pretending was one thing, but Hayate was a dog. "I'm going to wait for my Mom. She'll be worried if I'm not here when she gets back."

Pride needed the kid to not be here when anyone got back. "Please Maes? I found some alchemy stuff and I need someone who understands it."

"Alchemy?" Maes raised his eyebrows. He so desperately wanted to have a reason to have his Dad sit down and teach him and his Dad was always so excited and happy when he was talking about it. It was boring at times, but it was time together and that's all that mattered. He wanted to learn so bad, so maybe if he could show his Dad something new it would finally be the reason he spent time with him. "Where?"

"I have to show you." Pride repeated. The dog kept his eyes locked on to him and whined when Maes got off the bed.

Maes felt bad doing it, but one of his parents would be back soon. He didn't want Hayate to get in trouble and Tommy's threat scared him. It would be for his own protection. "Hayate, come here."

As soon as Maes made a move for the bathroom, Hayate was beside him. The young master didn't have to ask. He growled at the evil child and made sure he was between him and his own little boy at all times. He was happy that Maes was going to lock himself in the bathroom, he could feel how nervous the kid was with that_ thing_ in the room. As soon as his paws touched the tile he sat down next to the bathtub and gave a happy wag of his tail. It was good to reward the humans when they did something right, he learned that with Roy. If you didn't reward them by being cute and happy, they got distracted and ran into danger. And they chided him for chasing tennis balls into the street! His tail stopped wagging as Maes jumped out the door and slammed it shut. _No! No! No!_

Maes heard the howling on the other side of the door and felt horrible. Hayate's howl sounded like a 'No' and he regretted clicking the lock before closing the door. He forgot there was no key and it couldn't be unlocked from the outside. "Tommy, I can't leave him in there! Nobody can unlock the door now! I have to crawl in the window and it's too small for my Mom or Dad..."

"There's alchemy." Pride cooed. Ugh, this was too easy! "You can open a lock with alchemy."

"I...don't know how." Maes felt the tears begin to well in his eyes as Hayate barked and scratched on the other side of the door. He betrayed his best friend.

"That's what I was telling you..." Pride tried to remain focused on being nice but it was getting hard. Humans were so much work. "I found alchemy books in the basement. I bet there is something in there we can use."

Maes nodded. He wasn't going to be able to get to the bathroom window without an adult anyhow. He hoped his parents wouldn't be mad. Maybe he should just lie and tell them he did it accidentally, but there was no way he could say running out of the room and slamming the door in Hayate's face was an accident. He didn't want to get Hayate in trouble either by telling them he was growling at Tommy. "It's okay, boy. I'll be back and fix this. I'm sorry."

Oh great. Now he was going to cry. Pride turned his back as the muffled sobs came. He would never understand the stupid emotional attachments humans placed on each other and their pets. "Let's go!"

Maes had to run to catch up as Tommy took off so fast to run through the caretaker quarters and out into the hall. He stepped into the corridor and looked into the kitchen, then down the hall. Where did he go?"

Pride called from the lobby, "I'm out here! Hurry up!"

Maes ran to the sound of the voice, he entered the lobby just in time to see Tommy go behind the main desk where visitors would check-in. He ran over and stopped as he realized Tommy was standing in front of an open door that he didn't remember being there before. A cool breeze blew up the stairwell as he looked down into the poorly lit abyss. "I never saw this door before."

_Must he ask so many questions?_ Pride put on his chipper face, "It's the old access to the basement, they covered it up with that bookcase."

"Ok." Maes wanted to turn around and run back to the room. However he needed the books to tell him what wheels to use in order to make the lock open. He took a few steps and cautiously peered around the corner as the stairs took a sharp turn. "I thought the furnace was in the basement. My Dad told me I'm not supposed to go down there."

"That's in a different part of the hotel. This section is accessible to guests, it was the pool!" Pride chirped. _Go down there before I throw you down there._

"So people used to go behind the desk to go to the pool?" Maes said skeptically. It was one of those barriers you respected and he couldn't imagine someone in a bathing suit slopping by as people were paying for their rooms.

"No, the elevator used to go down there for the visitors. This was for the workers." Pride ground his teeth. This was turning into a full length novel just trying to lure one kid into the basement.

"Ok." It sounded reasonable. "So why did people read books in the pool?"

"It _used_ to be the pool." Pride skipped down the stairs and into the basement. _Seriously kid!?_

"Used to be? So what is it now?" Maes asked, curiosity giving him some bravery.

"See for yourself!" Pride called up as he stood next to the empty pool and looked down at the faded array that was painted on the bottom. A left over from the past, all that remained of the Water Alchemist's work. Those were the days, when they didn't make the alchemists feel like superheros with ridiculous and creative names. They were just labels, no different from a number stamped in a dog tag. Just a statement of the work you were doing for your superiors and not some power you could use against them.

Maes's eyes grew wide as he took in the concrete room with the empty pool and walls covered in symbols and arrays. He shivered, the cold of the basement wasn't the reason, it was more the chill you got when you were scared of the dark. The flickering lights overhead didn't help matters any. He was struggling to take that next step, he didn't want to admit to Tommy he was scared. Then his friend ran up to him and grabbed his hand to help him overcome his fear. If Tommy was imaginary, why could he touch him? "I want my Mom."

"She's busy."

"MOMMY!"

* * *

Roy rubbed his neck to try and relieve some of the built up tension that had taken root there. He had trudged back down the mountain only to come home and realize he was going to have to put off his shower for a little while and tend to the needy boiler instead. Task completed he was now looking forward to a nice long shower and hopeful that Riza would join him. She did have to hear about his chat with Ed after all, and hopefully they could celebrate the good news while they were in there. He smiled as he walked into his living quarters and heard the scratching and whining coming from the bathroom. Any thoughts of relaxing vanished. "Riza!?"

Hayate barked and hit the door again. He stepped back and began barking more urgently, demanding to be let out.

Roy ran over to the bathroom, rifle still slung over his shoulder and tried the door handle. It was locked and he banged on the door. "Riza? Maes?"

Hayate continued to bark. He knew that Roy needed lots of direction and without Riza to tell him what to do he was useless. Come on Roy! Maes is in danger!

Roy panicked, there was no reason Hayate would be locked in there unless he was with someone. If nobody was answering, something was terribly wrong. He pulled the rifle from his shoulder and cracked the butt plate against the door afraid that hitting the knob would crack something off in the mechanism. He struck it again, the panel cracked under the assault. Once more and wood splintered and he could look in the room. All he saw was Hayate bouncing around. He pushed his hand through the hole and opened the door from the outside.

Hayate darted past him and searched the living quarters for his little boy. He picked up Pride's scent immediately, the non human smell accosted his olfactory senses like the stink of putrid garbage. He turned and barked at Roy, there was no time to waste!

Roy pulled back the shower curtain to make sure nobody was in there. The bathroom was empty now. So how did Hayate get locked in? He turned around and looked at the beloved pet sounding the distress call and put the rifle down. "Alright, let's go!"

* * *

Riza ran towards the ballroom from the back stairwell used by hotel staff. After being almost drowned in Room 237 by a tidal wave of blood, she was still drenched in it. Only by swimming down to open up the metal vent in the floor did she manage to empty the contents of the room into the duct work and save herself. As she lie there gasping for breath she heard her son scream for her. There was no mistaking his distress, even through the miles of duct work snaking through the hotels innards. If the echo of his words hadn't been enough, him calling out for 'Mommy' was a clear sign that he was terrified. He was five now, he was trying to act more grown up and call them Mom and Dad. He only slipped into the 'baby talk' when he was scared.

The ballroom was located at the opposite end of the building as the caretaker's quarters and her goal was to make sure these monsters didn't get anywhere near Maes. She was certain she could find something in the room to use as a weapon, _anything_ would do. Roy would be back soon, they would all disappear as soon as he came home. The point of this was to drive them mad, not into each other's arms. If they were together then they would see that the ramblings had merit, that the insane stories of the dead coming back to life were not delusions.

She entered the ballroom and felt a chill, a gripping cold that made her shiver from head to toe despite the sweat and blood covering her body. She reached for the light switch, flipped it on and slowly turned around. Fear griped her again as the room was filled with motionless people standing there: Dark skin, red eyes and holes in their heads. The people she had killed in Ishval.

Then in one collective motion they pointed behind her and she looked on the wall to see those damned letters strung together again. Redrum. Written in blood, dripping down the wall...no pouring down the wall now. She looked back at the mob of innocent victims, her eyes just catching a glimpse of something she should take note of in the mirror behind the bar. The dead pointed now to the bar, their eyes wide with the terror of their last moments on earth, that instant their life was extinguished by a bullet out of her rifle. She looked back to the mirror and choked on a sob of horror. There in the reflection was the word 'murder'.

The room went dark and she could only hear shuffling as the crowd of people circled her and started to move closer, hands reaching out and tangling in her hair. A hundred or more whispers in different voices asking, "Why?"

* * *

Pride had rolled his eyes as Envy explained the elaborate display he had planned for today's entertainment. Envy jumped around, using a mop handle as a pointer to show his storyboard presentation of today's theatrics. There was blood, lots of blood, and ghosts. For a moment he thought that the other homunculus was now seeing the promise in his own idea; Pride's plan of pummeling the Mustangs with visions of the evil of their own actions and a psychological torture that would shatter them. No such luck. Envy was just trying to express himself by way of an extravagant production. He was jealous of Riza Hawkeye's strength, how she still managed to stand beside her man through all this hell. That was what he envied. That dedication...that love. So he wanted to scare her and shake her foundation, force her to run to her husband who would be in no condition to save her. Then they could begin to pry them apart. It was interesting, especially since Envy's drawings looked like stick figure porn.

So when little Maes started screaming for his Mommy and the blood from Room 237 exploded from the ceiling vents and into the pool, Pride actually cracked a little smile. Envy managed to pull it off. The timing, the drama, the utter horror of display was perfection! Mae's face was priceless. If this wasn't enough to trigger the kid's alchemy skills than nothing short of killing his parents in from of him would suffice. Maes was no longer scared of him, his little hand wrapped around Pride's and together they ran into the back room where it was safe.

Now however it was time for Act 2. Pride snuck away, he was of course 'imaginary' so he could vanish when he wanted. He left Maes crying in the dark corner of a room filled with chalkboards and the sketches from men who were at their wits end trying to wrestle the very essence of life from it's vessel. The child could sit this one out, the next part required only Roy and it was actually a part he was interested to watch play out. Envy was prepared to deliver the act of a lifetime, excited for the opportunity to use every ounce of his talents. He'd split himself apart and let his ghosts torment Riza in the ballroom, center stage was calling in the lobby.

He snuck away as Maes's sobs and cries filled the small room, then they were drowned out by the waves of blood in the old pool. He walked up the stairs and into the lobby. Then Pride pulled over a chair and stood on it to take a picture off the wall. He had hoped that someone would take notice of it before now, but it seemed like not everyone was super interested in the little details. He knelt down to back off the chair as the damned dog came running into the lobby and went on point, growling at him. "I've just about had it with you..."

"My sentiments exactly." Roy marched into the lobby. "Where is my wife and son!?"

"Your wife is in the ballroom and your son is exploring the pool." Pride said and stepped forward to show him the picture. "You are in the lobby and we are going to see if we can't trigger a little flashback."

His hand twitched, the scar he had carved into his hand during the flight with Lust ached. Alchemy called out to him but the part of his wardrobe needed to transition it from the fantastic glow of kinetic energy into a method of manipulation had to remain hidden until the right time. He could feel his gloves in his pocket, it was hard to ignore. God help him, he wanted to burn that little kid over and over...and over. "You mean such tantalizing memories of when I turned Lust into a pile of ash?"

"No." Pride giggled in the voice of Selim. "Back to when you were a little boy, just like me."

Roy's eyes narrowed as the little kid walked up to them boldly. Him with his muscles trembling in rage and his dog shaking with a low growl. That damned kid with a smile on his face and a picture in his hands. He was mocking them both. Pride. Arrogance. That wretched little shit.

"Look, Mustang. Look at the picture of the ballroom back in 1890." Pride tapped the glass with his little finger and raised it up for the man to see. "Who do you see?"

Roy had to look at it since the kid put it in his line of sight. It was a picture he passed a few hundred times since taking this job, a picture from the wall of the hotel's glorious past. It was a packed ballroom, people dressed in finery for a ball. They were all crowded around a man at the front, who wore the tuxedo and the attention so well. A man with a smirk and a aurora of familiarity about him. "I see people wasting money."

Pride tapped his finger on the man on the bottom, the focus of the attention. "One last chance to answer it right."

"Or what?" Roy scoffed as the picture was tossed into his hands. He heard Hayate whimper and raised his eyebrows as he realized Pride was gone. One look at Hayate told him the kid walked away into the newly revealed doorway behind the desk. He took the back off the picture frame and pulled the photo out. His dark eyes scanned it for anything familiar but saw nothing but the architecture to signify he even had a connection to this. Then he flipped it around and saw writing on the back. '_Celebrating William Mustang's State Certification, November 24, 1890_.'

The frame fell from his hands and hit the floor, the glass shattering and the antique frame cracking apart at the corners. He stared in disbelief at the words. There was no way! His parents were killed in an accident. That's what Christmas had told him. It was impossible. His father couldn't have been here.

Hayate turned and growled again. The smell was different, it reeked of a different kind of stench. Instead of something that went bad, this one smelled like something that had been rotting for a while.

Roy turned and his eyes grew wide as he looked at a man standing in the lobby wearing a tuxedo. The same man from the picture. Suddenly the memories rushed forth as a dam broke in his mind. He tried to force them back, but it was like trying to stem the flow of an already raging river. His mind was already predisposed to devouring flashes of memories and spitting them back out to remind him of his failures. The sights, smells and tastes of every memory lurked in his mind somewhere. A haunting gift that accompanied his intelligence and capacity to comprehend alchemy. It's why insanity was an occupational hazard among alchemists, eventually cracks started to form in the walls that separated it all in your subconscious. He sucked in a deep breath, realizing he had forgotten to breathe as he looked at the man who triggered a memory so fresh it felt like it was yesterday.

"Hello son." Said the man as he placed a cigarette between his lips and flicked open his lighter in preparation to puff the cigarette to life.

* * *

Maes crawled out from under the table when he thought he heard Hayate bark. That sound, it carried from up the stairs. That meant Hayate was free! His Mom or Dad was here to save him. He took a deep breath and calmed down a bit. Of course they would come.

But did they know he was down here? What if they didn't know about the pool and this other basement either? He could be trapped down here while they were looking all over the hotel for him. Suddenly he realized he was going to have to try and be brave and make it past that pool, still filling with blood, and make it back up the stairs.

He began crying instead, unable to move a single muscle or cry out for help. It was just like his nightmares.

How was he ever going to be like his Dad or Mom if he was such a coward?

* * *

"Your mother was a maid here when I first met her. I was here for a convention in 1884, you can imagine what it was like packing this hotel with alchemists back then. It was a move by the State to encourage alchemy studies and enchant us with the promise of funding and resources if we became State Alchemists. Always a suspicious bunch, we hardly were interested in condemning ourselves to labs and military control. Though I don't have to tell you that, do I Roy Boy? So proud of you boy, accomplishing so much so young. Maybe they're right about trauma fracturing the mind so you're receptive to the way of thinking like an alchemist. So few great alchemists who actually came from a happy home, did you every think about that?"

Roy swallowed hard. He had to remember who he was talking to. "There you go again, Envy, showing me how jealous you are of my family."

Bill Mustang chuckled and blew some smoke overhead as he enjoyed his cigarette. "Well I guess you did accomplish a lot, only to destroy it with your stupidity. Really shows what values you learned from your Aunt Chris. Growing up in a whorehouse you really did think you could get away with a little liberties on the side? Guess you do wear my name well after all. I almost ruined myself with your mother. Can you imagine me, a promising alchemist, coming home to Central with a young, pregnant Xingese bride? In the 1880s? Fucking the damned underage maid, shit. Thought you were a smart man Bill. Oh and what they said about you, when you inherited her eyes. Half-breed trash just like your name, Mustang. Worthless little wild nag without a lineage to call his own, dog food. They weren't kind."

"Neither was I." Roy recalled those days, not that he didn't still hear that shit now. "Won't be when I finally get a crack at you either."

"Yes, that temper." Bill nodded. "That came from me. You know, when you were about five we left you with your Aunt Chris for an extended stay up here. I told your mother I didn't want to pull you out of school to come up for this special project but in reality I just wanted to get some time away from fatherhood. Oh God were you always in the way, never could get any time alone with your mother and she doted on you. I just wanted some attention too...so I lied and said it would be a bad place for a little boy. That we'd be working on something dangerous and you always got yourself into predicaments. Still have a knack for it, it seems."

Roy said nothing. He felt guilty for wanting to be alone with Riza now. He wasn't jealous of his son, he loved him, but he just needed to have his wife to himself sometimes. He had no qualms about admitting he was needy and broken, he needed her caresses and strength. However he had no reason to justify himself to this bastard. He wasn't going to play into the trap. All it told him was that they had been listening this morning and made note of their flirting.

"We worked here all winter, me and a select group of alchemists. We needed seclusion, what we were working on was huge! They let us bring our families to keep us from getting too lonely, and it was wonderful for a while. The snows came, it didn't matter. We just kept going down those stairs there to the pool and working."

Roy turned and looked at _that_ door behind the desk again. A bookshelf had been moved to reveal it's existence. Might as well had a sign above it that said 'Cliche horror movie room down here! Watch your step.' This was Envy's doing all right.

"A decent to madness; the temptation of knowledge was all it took to keep us going back down there for more. These rooms were filled, every one when this place closed for the winter. Every room filled with a prisoner who was awaiting their chance to make history. It was clever really, we emptied the prisons and saved the state money, we didn't feel as guilty about their deaths because they were criminals, they didn't care about their souls...so why would they miss them?"

Roy's mouth went dry. _Souls._ There was no way...

"We were proud of our accomplishments. Discovering that it was easier to capture the soul when we drowned them because we could feel the intrusion in the pool. Basic chemistry really, Hydrogen,Oxygen, Chlorine..add the formula for a human and then the only thing left was a soul. It was teamwork. A man skilled in water alchemy, a man in bio-alchemy and another who appreciated the wonders of the east...a man who wanted to harness the energy force some called Chi. Me." Bill took another drag on the cigarette. "You could feel it, when the array was activated, that glorious moment when the soul was expelled from it's vessel. We worked together. One to feel the disturbance in the water, another to feel the life leave the body and me...to wrangle that escaped convict into something usable."

Roy wanted to snap some witty retort and shut down Envy's performance, he so desperately wanted to say something that would end this. However his memories told him this was something he had heard before. Suddenly he was Maes's age, walking into the kitchen as his mother cooked a delicious meal. He crawled up on the chair and saw the table covered in notes, alchemy notes, and books written in a foreign text. His father not lifting his eyes from his paper but patting his head and tusseling his hair as he got down off the chair. It meant they wouldn't be eating in the tiny kitchen because Dad was working. So he walked over and tugged on his mother's dress, trying to assist her in making the decision to not anger Dad by telling him it was time to eat. Especially since he had that half empty bottle and shot glass next to him.

"You should go look. Your boy is down there right now, he's quite the little prodigy and I know it scares you. Just think of your genetics, my alchemy and your mother's alkhestry, combined with the Hawkeye line all swirling around in that gene pool. How amazing it's going to be when he loses his family and his potential is awakened."

Roy's heart sank. Just the thought of Maes being alone...wasn't going to happen. Then a scream disrupted the conversation. A scream from the ballroom.

* * *

Maes heard the scream too and froze. He started crying more, frozen in fear and unable to go help. He looked up as he heard someone coming, the tink of claws on the tiled floor of the pool area. He braced himself, waiting to be devoured by some monster that was furious about his intrusion into his den.

Hayate let out a whimper as he found his little boy curled up on the floor crying. He went over and put his wet nose to the boy's face and let loose a happy puppy sigh as the kid buried his face in his fur and started bawling. He nudged him, there was no time for that. They had to get the pack back together.

Maes's hands clutched Hayate's soft fur as the dog walked beside him and gave him the bravery he wished he had. Maybe instead of asking his Dad to teach him alchemy he should ask him to show him to not be such a cry-baby. Or second thought, maybe he should ask Mom.

Hayate marched up the steps with his little boy and when they got to the top he took a sniff of the air to ensure no enemies were around. Considering it safe he guided Maes to the ballroom where he knew Roy had run off to. Reunite the pack, that was his sole objective.

Roy had burst into the ballroom to find Riza lying on the floor and nothing else out of place. He ran to her, scooped her up in his arms and got slapped in the face for his efforts. He called her name, held her tighter and she finally pushed aside her panic and sank into his chest with murmurs of apologies and shaking of fear. He held her and looked around the room, wishing that the monsters would present themselves and he could slip on his glove and just make them pay. Then the squeak of the door and the sound of little feet running made him turn to see Maes and Hayate. The boy dove into his arms, tears streaking down his face and all he could do was hold them all. He didn't know why Riza was covered in blood or why Maes was covered in cobwebs, all that mattered was they were safe.

When Hayate looked at Roy and wagged his tail, he waved him over and the dog curled up on Riza's lap. Roy put his head on Riza's as she pulled Maes over to pet his head and reassure him. He hugged them all closer to him, not wanting to know just yet what his family had endured. There was something he needed to do first. "I'll be right back."

Riza looked up at him surprised, how could he leave right now? She saw his eyes and noted the fury that was starting to threaten to boil over. How ironic that he was a slave to that damned boiler downstairs, just like he was to the temper he struggled to control. "Be careful."

* * *

The bell dinged on the elevator and Roy stepped into the hall. He marched down to room 237 with his fists clenched and his jaw set. A marker in his hand and a lighter in the other. He opened the door and saw Pride sitting on the bed, swinging his little legs and throwing Hayate's tennis ball against the wall. He walked over to the dresser and threw everything off the top of it. Ignoring the irritating ball bouncing against the wall he began to draw with Maes's magic marker. "Got a little present for you, Pride."

"Oh? Is it human transmutation? Maybe some of your Dad's soul sucking research? Did you like that? I thought Envy's performance was award winning." Pride chirped and looked at Mustang curiously. This wasn't exactly the reaction he was expecting.

"Envy needs to just commit to show business and get out of these low budget productions." Roy put in the finishing touches and smiled.

"Whatcha doin'?" Pride asked in Selim's voice as his shadow arms shot across the room and dragged the dresser away from Mustang's hands. He looked down at the drawing and saw a stick figure giving him the finger.

"Redecorating..." Roy showed him the marker array he had drawn on his hand and flipped open the lighter that his 'father' had left on the front desk. The kid looked up in disbelief as Mustang sent a line of flames swirling around the room and around him.

"Don't you fear what I'll do to your wife? You Son? Your Dog?" Pride stood, the heat already making him uncomfortable.

"I'm fucking pissed at what you've already done to them!" He said and let the flames begin to burn the wallpaper off the plaster walls. The curtains burst into flames and the carpet began to smoke."Just going to let off a little steam and remind you that I don't think too well when I'm pissed off. Maybe teach you a little lesson in the process. Something _your_ Father clearly forgot to share with you."

Pride narrowed his eyes at him. "So what lesson is this then? "

"I'm teaching you the meaning of _humility_."

Pride let his shadow tentacles wrap around the man and he stepped on the dresser to look him in the eye. He could feel relief from the heat as he brought Mustang closer. To survive his flames he must create some sort of barrier around himself. However there was no fear in those eyes, just cold dark irises that reflected the fire that was dancing around them. This man before him did not fear him, he was not reveling in his superiority, he just knew that he had the upper hand. This was the man that a Fuhrer feared, the hero who didn't flinch in the face of evil.

"How does it feel to be humbled, _Pride_?"

Pride looked down as the flames swirling around the room subsided and the eyes on his black tendrils began to sizzle. Suddenly he felt something different. Was it fear? No, he could destroy this man if he wanted. However he suddenly felt small, having to hide from the flames in the shadow of Mustang and avoid the desire to retract his tendrils to avoid harm . As soon as he realized what just happened the flames were gone, the lighter flicked closed and Mustang's dark eyed glared down at him.

"That concludes today's lesson," Roy 's voice was flat and controlled. He saw a flicker of confusion in the kid's eyes and lowered his voice to a commanding growl, "Now get your creepy little tentacles off me."


	4. A Funeral Pyre

_The Shining_

Chapter 4

**A Funeral Pyre**

* * *

Riza couldn't sleep. It had been a while since she had smelled the smoke embedded in Roy's clothes and hair, but that acrid scent would be something that she would forever associate with him. It still lingered in her nasal passages, even though he had showered when he came back down from Room 237 and left his clothes in the bathroom. As much pain as it had caused him, the smell was comforting to her. It meant that he was still here, that the alchemy that he had singed his soul with was still at his fingertips. That brewing anger, the storm with him, was very much a part of Roy even if he hated it. The temper and the flames meant he was still the man who was infuriated by the way this country had been corrupted, that there was still a cause in him that would fight everything threatening to drag him down.

It was reassuring in light of everything Envy and Pride had done. Maes was curled up under the blankets beside her with his hand clutching Hayate's fur. Poor kid blamed himself for everything and it took her hours to calm him down. He was terrified of "Tommy" now, somehow his young mind had managed to figure out that his imaginary fiend was no longer a figment of his imagination. He wasn't going to go anywhere without his Mom now, he promised. All she could do was tell him to ignore Tommy and she hoped when things finally came to an end that her son wouldn't be traumatized. Somehow they'd try to explain it all to him later.

She looked out the window and at the mountains in the distance, illuminated by the light of the full moon. Roy had told her about his meeting with Ed when she got in the shower with him. He kept telling her it would be ending soon, tomorrow they would strike back. Tomorrow he would bring hell to them and this damned place would be nothing but ash. Never mind the ghosts of Ishvalians in the ballroom that had brought her to her knees in sorrow, fear and guilt. Never mind the horrible news that Roy's father had been in this very hotel before. Never mind the section of basement Pride lured Maes into, with the blood and alchemy. _This is war. We have been here before, we push through this hell and make sense of it later._ Yes Colonel. So damned good to have you back.

Then his smile surfaced. The smile of the commander who now was allowed to move. The alchemist who now had his gloves back where they belonged. A Colonel who had seen through his enemy's smoke screens and given them reason to think they had the upper hand. A soldier who was going to take no prisoners. A husband who was going to defend his family. A father who wasn't going to let his son know the pain of his childhood. She couldn't help but smile too, because this was _her_ Roy Mustang and she loved every part of him.

"Can't sleep?"

Riza rolled onto her back and reached up to stroked his cheek with the backside of her hand. "No."

Roy took her hand in his and brought it to his lips to kiss her knuckles. "Me neither."

She moved over a little, making sure she didn't wake Maes and rolled over to put her head on his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her they held each other until morning, taking comfort in each others presence and touch. No words needed, words were never needed. They never could sleep on the eve of battle.

* * *

Roy had made his way in to the pool area an hour ago. The cool basement and flicking lights didn't stop him from walking into the empty pool like he was in a trance, the arrays were the first and only thing he saw when he set foot in the basement. He stood in the middle of the pool, feet placed on the fading array that had runes denoting it the work of someone dabbling in human transmutation. Then she saw the others as he turned, an array painted on each wall of the pool housing. One at each pole, it was important to maintain a balance with something of this magnitude. On the North and South walls were painted two arrays, each having to do with water alchemy. The East and West had a different set having to do with bio-alchemy. The four on the walls would trap the body and water surround it in a vortex, forming an alchemical cross-hair as the lines cut across the pool. All that was left was for one man to activate the array he was standing on.

He looked at the faded lines, some of the paint had flaked off from the water and pool chemicals. Others looked like they had been scratched out with a sharp object. An alchemist trying to destroy his work perhaps? Hide enough of it to avoid someone stealing or replicating it. Roy knew it wouldn't take much, just destroying the edge of a complex circle like this would be enough to set someone back decades. He knew that from experience.

He walked out of the empty pool and back up to the floor level so he could look down at the work from above. He had considered human transmutation before and did make some progress in his research, but he also had seen Ed and Al's work to try and help them understand what happened to them. What he was looking at, didn't quite match up with either of their works. This almost read like the schematics for a electrical generator for a wind turbine. Like it didn't reconstruct the human into it's original components, but condensed it into something with a higher energy. Like boiling down sap to make syrup, except with a human soul.

He looked over to the room with the light still on and made his way over to it. He was slowly allowing the equations and calculations of the work down here push aside his awareness of the environment. He could see now why these men came down here every day, how nothing in the outside world mattered but the allure of the knowledge down here in this pit of despair. To comprehend something like these advanced alchemic theories, every alchemist had to push aside reality, reason and common sense. Allowing those aspects of humanity to fall out of focus, so you could concentrate on that one dark channel that could turn you into a mad scientist.

Roy walked into the office and scanned the walls; chalkboards filled with scratches of notes and equations, the outdated poster of the periodic table of elements, bottled chemicals and shelves of books. The conference table was littered with paperwork and he started to push sheets around to see if anything jumped out at him. So this is where they spent their last days: these three men who somehow rationalized these experiments as a benefit to the State.

"I was wondering how long it was going to take you to come down here."

Roy didn't bother to turn around. He knew by the sound of the voice who Envy was playing this morning. He took a deep breathe, knowing Envy would just get louder if he didn't acknowledge him. "I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to finally prove to us both how much you want to be my best friend."

"Ha!" Envy chuckled and fidgeted with the glasses perched on his nose. He glanced at his image in a dusty and cracked mirror on the wall. He felt gangly and awkward, but looked just like Maes Hughes, from what he could remember of the man. "That's funny. I always wondered how you and Hughes got along. He seemed like he was always smiling and laughing, you all broody and bitter. I guess you do have a fun side to you."

Ever since they learned of their predicament here at the Overlook he had been dying to ask one question of both of these damned monsters, 'Did you kill Maes Hughes?'. However it wasn't a conversation he was going to have until his gloves were back in his possession. When he heard the answer he wanted vengeance to be immediate and painful. Knowing the answer and not being able to act would have been the one thing that would have sent him over the edge. Just a few more hours and he could finally ask, but for right now he continued to look through dusty old notes that were in the room his boy Maes had found last night. Roy turned and finally laid eyes on his 'best friend' again and it took everything in him to not reach into his pocket. "So, not going to play my Dad this time in order to unveil the secrets of the mystery pool area?"

"Give me some credit!" Hughes chuckled. "I'm the investigator, I have to play the part here as we unwrap the secrets of the Overlook Hotel!"

Roy help up the book. "Experiments. Big surprise."

"The bigger surprise is that they made philosopher's stones down here." Hughes took off his glasses to clean them. "You know they're made out of people, right Roy?"

Roy felt sick and it wasn't the damp basement, the musty books or the smell of chemicals that had permeated the pores in the concrete walls.

"Back in the day they legend was that this hotel was haunted. That the restless spirits somehow allowed this hotel to amplify a persons abilities. Whether it be alchemy, psychic powers or creativity for horror writers...it gave off a certain power. Well it's true, we actually had philosopher's stones in the basement here being made and the proximity to them did just that."

"So my father figured out how to remove a soul and you turned it into stones." Roy put his hand in his pocket. He just wanted to have reassurance that the gloves were still there.

"Wait...it gets better." Hughes put his glasses back on. "Psychotic breaks run in the family. He was up here working away like a possessed man and then one day..snap. And I don't mean like you snap your fingers, I mean snap as in homicidal rampage. Well...I guess you do know what that's like."

Roy maintained eye contact and said nothing. The probability was when he burnt this place to the ground that all records of this work and his past would disappear with it. Research that could help the Elrics and a family history that could help him come to terms with his past. However it was evident that it was all tainted, that sometimes you were better off walking away and not knowing. But the price of this knowledge was so damned many lives...could he really let them die in vain?

"Don't forget, Ishval." Hughes shook his head. "How can anyone? God, what a bloodbath and what an incredible harvest of souls."

Roy missed the last part. All he heard was 'Don't forget'. Instead of hearing it in Hughes' voice he heard it in Edward's. A young shaking voice holding out a pocket watch, with the words etched in the cover. _Don't Forget 3 . OCT .11 _The day they burned their house down. Because some memories are not meant to leave traces. He finally understood, leave it to_ those _damned kids to teach him a lesson. Yes, this shit could burn with the rest of this place. There was no good that would come from it.

"When Daddy snapped however, he really just cleaned this place out. They were nearing the end of the winter so only a handful of prisoners remained to turn into red gold, but he shot the other alchemist first. Then their families...then chased your Momma down and...that was the end of that. Room 237, of all places. Shot himself Holy hell was it costly to clean that mess up. Blood everywhere! Brain matter, everywhere! Prisoners starved to death. That's why you didn't get his pension, so we could pay for new carpet."

Roy narrowed his eyes at him. No, he was just going to ignore him and grind the enamel off his teeth instead.

"Wait! I wouldn't be Hughes unless I showed you pictures!"

Roy glared and him but was startled when a wallet emerged and the pictures were not of Elicia and Gracia, but of him and his own mother. He completely missed that Envy shifted back into his father until he spoke again.

"Isn't he adorable?" William Mustang cooed. "My adorable little son, going to grow up and be just...like...me."

Roy didn't need a glove on his hand to do damage, sometimes it was more satisfying to use your fist.

* * *

Riza dabbed at Roy's hand with the peroxide and his hand twitched. He was sitting on the toilet in their bathroom as she dressed the cuts on his knuckles and watched him stare at the mildew stained grout in the tub. "You tripped?"

Roy glanced back at her, he blinked a few times to tell her he was fine. "Just lack of sleep I guess."

She wrapped the gauze around his hand and gently stroked his palm with her thumb. His fingers moved, returning the subtle mark of affection. Even though it seemed pointless to keep up the act, they couldn't abandon it now. Not in the final hours. "Maes and I are going to go outside for a little while. After last night I think some outside time will do him some good."

"Good idea. I'll see you later." Roy said.

She rested her hands on his knees and made him look at her. "He'll be looking forward to it so don't let him down."

He raised his eyebrows as she dug her fingers into his leg. _No, my love, I won't die._ Soon this game would be over but he had to make sure the homunculus were going to split up. Pride would more than likely be a little wounded from last night and be looking for redemption. He would target Maes. Envy was going to want to settle the score from having his ugly face bashed in and would be excited to serve up some drinks. Let the games began. "Let him down? You mean by looking for something to drink in the ballroom?"

"He doesn't need an imaginary friend when he has you. You're his hero." She stared into his eyes and saw them soften. She gave him just the slightest smile. _You're mine too, you idiot. Don't die. _

"A little faith, huh?"

For a second she thought she might have said that last bit out loud but his eyes told her that wasn't the case. He just mouthed the words and she heard them in his voice. She looked up at him as he stood and inspected his bandage, the peroxide had bubbled away some of the marker that he had drawn his array with.

As Riza stood he placed a kiss on her forehead. He could hear Maes close to the bathroom door, pretending to play with his toy trains but clearly more interested in eavesdropping and staying close to his Mom. He was right to be worried. "Hey Maes?"

"Yeah Dad?" Maes ran up to the bathroom door, happy to be included.

"Snap Snap." Roy said and gave Riza a subtle smirk.

"SPARK SPARK!" Came the excited reply.

Roy grinned at Riza who for once didn't roll her eyes. "Time to light up the diggy diggy dark."

As Maes turned around and finished singing the rest of the song she remained focused on that confident smile. He squeezed her arms as he slid past her and she couldn't believe that they were using that damned song of his as code now. Who was she kidding? Once they were out of here she'd sing it along with them. "Maes, do you want to go outside and play while I do some reading?" A_nd your father torches the hotel?_

"Sure!"

* * *

Ed found a nice place to survey the grounds before walking in to an uncertain situation. He had faith in Mustang, he trusted the napkin map that had been drawn out for him, but he also had a long history with the man. Mustang had a tendency to downplay certain situations and manipulate people, most notably him. So he really wanted to get a feel for the layout of the hotel and the placement of all his enemies before engaging them in battle. It all seemed way too simple.

However as he perched on a hillside access road looking down at the Overlook Hotel, it all seemed to be going exactly as planned. Riza and Hayate on a bench in the playground. A little kid playing next to a creepy as hell igloo thing and some odd looking hedge animals that seemed to be misplaced.

He went back to the treeline and picked up the knapsack that General Armstrong forced him to take. In hindsight it really was much better to take the survival gear than try to make shelter last night. Not that he was going to tell her that, not after she thrust the bag in his face and snarled, "I'm not Mustang. You are a soldier and you're going to take the proper equipment with you on this mission. Fucking alchemists, you think you're too damned good for uniforms and proper military protocol? I'll take it up with your superior when that moron gets here." Well, he also wanted to see what happened in an Ice Queen vs. Flame competition.

He slung the bag over his shoulder and straightened up. It was time to quit stalling and start this battle, whether Mustang was ready or not.

* * *

Envy checked the clock on the wall. "It's about Noon, don't you think you should be getting downstairs?"

"Nope." Roy sat down and flipped a shot glass over. "Pour me some bourbon."

"You had a heck of a fun night last night." Envy said and cautiously poured the liquor. Mustang was behaving oddly. Why was he here being friendly and relaxed when he was just in the basement pounding his face in earlier? Was he finally cracking? "Room 237 looks a little...scorched."

"Well I don't like being touched like that." He said. "Pride's turning into a fucking tentacle monster and I've read enough hentai to know how that plays out."

"Funny, Pride said you liked being touched in all kinds of interesting places in the office." Envy watched him knock back the shot and wondered what he had to do to convince him to just take the last step off the edge of sanity. "Guess you don't see that kind of action anymore, with the wife blaming you for all this."

"If you want to watch, just ask." He pushed the glass over to him and smirked. "I'll give you something to really _envy_."

Envy watched him stretch and crack his knuckles. "She doesn't respect you anymore, now that you're not her superior officer and commander. She doesn't have the right to deny you anything. Asking you not to drink. Asking you not to go up to room 237 because she fears you getting your gloves back. Someone needs a little reminder of who is in charge around here, huh Colonel?"

Roy smiled. "Yeah, _you_. Refill my drink. Find me something expensive."

Envy turned and looked on the wall of various alcohols and frowned. It's not like they had price tags, how the hell was he supposed to find something expensive? His eyes caught the glimpse of something off white in the mirror as his eyes scanned the wall of booze, and he returned his gaze to see what caught his eye. He blinked. Was that...no..it couldn't be. They destroyed all the gloves.

"That one right there." Roy said and snapped his fingers as Envy turned to look at him shocked. The bottle exploded behind him. "It is going to be your last drink after all, I'd hate to send you back to hell without the very best."

Envy's eyes grew wide as the man's cocky smirk materialized on his face. Then there was a snap and the entire wall of alcohol exploded, sending glass shrapnel into his back and engulfing him in a brief but intense heat from the alcohol combusting.

Roy dropped down below the bar to make sure he wasn't caught in the explosion. It felt amazing to be able to use his gloves again, to have his power back and to be using it to attack this bastard felt way too damned good. He was going to have to be careful or else these assholes might just get their wish and make him into the monster they wanted. He stood up as soon as the flames faded and looked at Envy, bent over the bar with glass fragments in his back, his skin smoking and hair sizzling. "Forgive me if I feel like talking with my hands today."

Envy watched the delight spread across his face as he revealed his other glove and unleashed a fireball that blew him back into the cracked mirror behind the bar.

"So, let's start with an easy question, huh?" Roy said and snapped, a line of flames igniting Envy's headband and roasting off his eyebrows. "Did you kill Maes Hughes?"

* * *

Ed strolled up the drive and made his way over to the playground as snowflakes began to drop from the gray skies above. He wondered why Mustang was allowing his son to play with the homunculus but figured it was a discussion best saved for after the rescue. He could see Riza sitting on a bench reading and watching over Maes. Black Hayate's vigilant eyes spotted him and he could see the dog raise to his full height. Riza's hand reached out and pet him, obviously telling him to stay put. He returned his attention to Maes Mustang. Damn, the kid grew up quite a bit since he last saw him. Had it really been almost two years? He wondered if he would even recognize him. "Hey, mind if I join you?"

Maes looked up at the man in the white coat and eyed him suspiciously. "If my Mom says it's Ok."

Wow. Did Mustang really have a polite kid? Ed flashed a smile and waved at her. "We're old friends."

"Shhh...don't say old. Daddy gets upset when you call him old."

Ed smiled. _Yeah, some things never change_. He bent down and glanced at the eyes in the igloo and put his hands to the ground. First things first. "Hey Pride, long time no see."

Maes watched the igloo change into a ball as the Earth broke through the snow and wrapped around it. He looked at the visitor with his eyes wide. "You can use the shining without wheels?"

Ed frowned. So much for Roy Mustang's homeschooling skills, the kid made absolutely no sense. "What?"

Maes looked at the igloo and smiled. "You saw him?"

"Yeah." Ed leaned over and whispered, "He's one of the bad guys."

"I'm Maes." The boy stood and held out his hand for the alchemist to shake.

"I'm Edward Elric...The Fullmetal Alchemist." Ed said and shook the kid's hand.

"_Fullmetal Alchemist_." Maes repeated. His Dad talked about him! "My Dad told me stories about you!"

"We've actually met before. When you were little. Haven't seen you in a few years though." Ed heard Pride begin to tap on the shell of Earth structure, a distress signal.

"Have you been fighting monsters?" Maes asked.

"Something like that." Ed replied. _More like working for monsters._

Riza could hear the rustling behind her as the hedge animals began to move towards them. She was hoping Ed would quit chatting with Maes and start paying attention to his surroundings. She didn't want to find out if chimera topiaries were capable of rushing them, but it seemed the kid was leaving her little choice but to walk over there and smack him. Good to see he still couldn't follow directions.

"Did he trick you into thinking he was your imaginary friend too?" Maes asked and pointed at the igloo. He smiled when Hayate came over and licked his face. His Mom also arrived and seemed happy to see the new guy.

"If I've learned anything, it's that you always find out who your real friends are. Who your friends are and that monsters can look human too." Ed said quietly, the picture of another innocent kid and dog popped into his mind as Hayate protectively stood beside his child. He thought briefly of Nina and Alexander, another friend he couldn't save. Nothing was going to stop him from saving this kid though, and he was going to make sure Mustang kept his promise.

"Ed, can you maybe pay attention to these new _friends_ trying to break up your conversation?" Riza asked politely, not wanting to draw her gun and fire into the shrubberies while her son was sitting in front of her. She also didn't like the way the conversation was going.

Ed looked up and was surprised at how quickly the things moved. Chimera hedge animals. They were incredible! It seemed like they were closer with every blink of the eye. It was fascinating, the root system was actually used like the legs of a millipede to propel the creatures forward. He wondered what or who had been merged with the plants in order to create these. "Why the hell are you guys letting your kid play out here?"

Riza darted up in front of him and grabbed her son. "I'll explain later, those chimera however are looking for some attention right now."

Ed cocked an eyebrow and wondered if he should buy Mustang some more time, however the sound of broken glass alerted them all to the fact that something was going on in the hotel. The lion hedge animal started to move towards the building and the plumes of smoke now exiting through one of the windows and he decided it was probably enough time. He smiled and looked up at Maes, "Friends of yours?"

"No, they're feral."

Ed frowned. So he knew the word feral? Roy's homeschooling was pretty inconsistent. Hayate appeared next to him and wagged his tail then turned to the hedge animals and growled. "Let's cage them up then."

Maes's eyes grew wide as the ground shot up in pillars around the chimera and made a cage. The same Earth type structure that Ed had used on Tommy's igloo. "Wow, it's Earth Shining."

Ed stood up and dusted off his hands. "What exactly is this 'shining'?"

"The glow of alchemy." Riza explained and wrapped her arm around Ed to give him a hug. "I'm glad to see you."

"That's kind of clever." Ed said thoughtfully. "So the wheels are transmutation circles?"

Riza nodded as Maes hung on to her neck and studied the new alchemist. "We'll have plenty of time to talk about it later."

Ed jumped as he heard an explosion from the hotel. Sure enough there were flames billowing out from one of the windows. "I'm worried he's going to go too far with Envy."

"Me too." Riza said softly. "Come on Hayate, we need to help Roy."

"So how do you get the Shining to work without the wheels?" Maes asked the blond.

Ed hear Riza clear her throat in a warning to not tell the kid the truth. He looked over at the mini-Mustang and said, "It's not how...but_ how awesome_ is it that I can! Right?"

"Is it because you're short and closer to the ground?" Maes asked.

Ed cringed. He looked at Riza and said through gritted teeth, "That bastard told him to say that, didn't he?"

"No." She said while trying to hide a smile. "You do have to remember that Roy told him the stories though."

* * *

"I suppose, as caretaker, I should have taken more _care_ to not damage this _wonderful _old hotel." Roy snapped and set the highly combustible drapes on fire. "Damn near everything in here is a fire hazard."

Envy scrambled out of the ballroom and fell over as the rug he stepped on ignited underneath him.

"That's not even taking into account the construction. No firewalls, no fire escapes. These old walls without any fire stops, just long channels of lathe leading right up the center of the building. God, that shit burns hot too. No way to get in the walls to put it out, real death trap. "

Envy rolled to try and put out his burning flesh. "You're crazy! You burn this down and you will die up here! Blizzard is moving in, you'll never survive up here without the Hotel and you have no way to get down the mountain. You can't walk...you're killing yourself and your family!"

"I thought that's what you wanted." Roy said and snapped his fingers again.

Envy howled as he set the skin on his right arm on fire.

"That Blizzard..." Roy said with a laugh. "Is coming, but I think she prefers to be called General Armstrong."

"How?" Envy screeched as Mustang set his hair on fire again.

"Pays to have friends in the radio business." Roy replied. "However right now you should be more concerned about_ how_ many times I can burn you before you die."

Envy screamed as Mustang snapped at the radiator and the emergency shut off valve opened to release the steam he had created. His back boiled, the glass fragments still embedded in it began to melt into his body and he clearly started hallucinating. How the hell did Fullmetal Pipsqueak get here?

"Mustang!" Ed screamed. "You're supposed to be better than them!"

"After what they've put my family through...don't worry. I plan on taking my time." Roy said coldly, then snapped at an old couch near Envy's face and smiled as it burst into flames. "This one has to suffer for taking Maes from his family as well."

"I'm right here Daddy!" Maes screamed. "They didn't take me anywhere! Don't get mad!"

"Roy!" Riza screamed upon seeing what he was doing. She held Maes's head to her shoulder, making sure he couldn't see the damage his father was capable of. "Just end it."

He felt his hand twitch as he looked into her pleading eyes and heard Maes squeal that he wanted to see what was happening. Hayate barked at him to back up his master's plea. Ed's golden eyes plead with him to not go too far, to not make him question his loyalty to his former commander. His heart pounded and his ears took in the pitiful whine from Envy before he calmed down and focused on the heat surrounding him. The hotel was quickly being eaten by the flames, the old wood and furniture the perfect fuel for the fire. His family wouldn't get out in time if he made them talk him down. "Where's Pride?"

"Outside." Ed said. "But I needed to know we weren't going to lose you in here too! Maes needs his Dad. Dammit Mustang, don't make him grow up hating you abandoning him! Don't make him listen to his mother cry every night because you chose to walk away from her."

Roy swallowed hard. He didn't want to be that man. He didn't want to be his own father who lost his mind and took his mother with him. He didn't want Maes to grow up like Ed, hating him for choosing something over his family. He didn't want Riza to be alone, like she was growing up. Tending to a house in the middle of nowhere trying to make ends meet. He didn't want Maes to be like Ed, doing the unthinkable just to make his Mother happy. "Right. Go ahead and roll the bastard in here. We don't have much time before that boiler gives out. You all need to get out of here."

"We're a team." Riza said sternly. "Now quit stalling and finish this! This is no time for your dramatic flourish!"

"Riza..." He started to say in the most commanding voice he could muster.

"Roy! Now!" She snapped back, extinguishing his attempt to get authoritative. "We leave together!"

"Fullmetal, get Pride in here. Roll that bastard right into the elevator and I'll get the key that will let us send him to the basement." Roy watched the young man dart out of the hotel's front doors and he focused on Riza. Maes crying in her arms, her dog by her side and her face betraying her fear. "You're not losing me, not today. Riza, you can't follow me into this Hell. I have to go down there alone, I can not control the oxygen around all of us. I'll be lucky to protect Ed."

"Because I'm so small?" Ed's voice interrupted as he pulled up the floor boards of the lobby to create a ramp to roll the earthen shell into the Elevator. "I'm getting real sick of your tired jokes, Mustang! I can't wait to see Armstrong bust your balls for once!"

Riza saw his pleading eyes and she knew he was right. He needed to know she and Maes were safe, he needed them to be outside of this hotel while they wrote the final chapter in this nightmare. "Don't die."

Roy nodded and watched her run out the door with Hayate at her heels. Maes's face looked at him, over Riza's shoulder. His eyes were wide in terror and he screamed for him to follow them. "I'll be right out after I take care of the furnace son, I promise!"

* * *

Of all the dangerous and stupid things he had done in his young life, getting on an antique elevator in a burning hotel with a two homunculus and Roy Mustang was probably up there was one of the dumbest things he had done. But here he was, standing next to a giant dirt encrusted playground igloo and Envy bound with an elegant tie back from the scorched drapes in the lobby. The elevator creaked and debris fell on the roof of the cab as Mustang finally got the key to turn and put it on service mode. "So, next time I come to save your ass I want to suggest we take the stairs."

Roy felt the car jerk as the elevator descended. He looked over at the young alchemist and nodded. "Agreed."

Envy spit out the hotel towel they had stuffed in his mouth. "Maybe you should be less concerned about the mode of transportation and more concerned about my true form that I haven't shown you yet."

Roy snapped his fingers and sent a stream of flame into Envy's mouth, melting his tongue. "I haven't shown you all of my tricks either."

Ed moved away from Envy as the screams of pain almost shattered his eardrums. The elevator stopped and the doors opened into the basement where the fire hadn't spread to yet. Before Envy could say anything he placed his hands on the carpet of the car and raised the frame up in the middle to roll Pride's cell out and over Envy to make sure the homunculus didn't make good on his threat.

Roy bent down and grabbed Envy by the hair and drug him out of the elevator and towards the furnace. He was focused now, he wasn't going to snap his fingers and roast pieces off Envy anymore, he was going to throw him in the furnace and shut the door. Cast the bastard into hell and lock the gates behind him.

Envy had to use more energy to regenerate after the ball of Earth crushed every bone in his body. He felt hair follicles being tugged out of his scalp and frantically tried to grab at Mustang's hand, tried to claw at that damned glove that gave him his power. However before he could do anything he heard a creak and the pain stopped, right before he looked up and saw that damned hand one last time.

"A parting gift." Roy said. "Because you set your envious eyes on a man who had everything...a man who had an amazing family and happiness. A man who looked at his family every chance he got, you saw something you couldn't have and you took him away from them."

Envy saw the snap and felt the pain, then grasped at his eyes. His eyes were boiling! How the hell was that even possible!

"God dammit Mustang!" Ed screamed. "I said enough!"

Roy picked up the now blinded Envy and launched him head first into the furnace, then shut the door and locked it. "A precaution...he needed to be stunned before he did something to break free and avoid being tossed in. He'll be too busy regenerating as the fire tears him apart to do anything else."

Ed walked over and grabbed the man by his shirt. He looked into those eyes and made sure they weren't glinting with satisfaction. No, he saw a man who was was ready to be done. Ready to leave this place and go back to a family he wanted to shower with that kind of love that Hughes had. "What about Pride?"

Roy glanced over at the ball, Pride was still clinking away on the inside with some toy Maes had left in the igloo. Maybe his train? Whether he was sending out code or trying to clip away the Earth, he wasn't sure. "This furnace is a boiler. The pressure inside is going to continue to increase since the relief valve is temperamental. We make sure that relief vale is permanently shut. You can do that?"

"Yeah." Ed said and saw the value he was talking about. The pipes around them were rattling, the pressure already getting high. The heat in the basement was enough to have him covered in a layer of sweat, something he had ignored considering his focus had been on Envy.

"Do that, I'll increase the flames in the furnace with alchemy. We'll push this to the limits and then get out. The furnace will blow, that pressure from the explosion will destroy that earth shell Pride is in and the entire section of the hotel around us. The structure will collapse into itself, the fire already started upstairs will continue to burn with that material. There will be no way to escape the debris once that happens. Even if there is, Pride will have no shadows to use for his tendrils. The fire will destroy his vessel."

"OK, This valve?" Ed asked and Roy grabbed his hand.

"You dumb shit, why haven't you asked how to get out of here?" Roy hissed.

Ed grinned. "Just making sure you plan on leading the way out Colonel. You made a promise and I'm not giving you any chance to sacrifice yourself. So shut up and get to work before we both get blown up and Maes has to live without a cool Uncle to teach him alchemy too!"

* * *

Olivier Armstrong stood on the ridge and let the cold northern wind whip her hair around her face. The smoke rising from the southeast was dark and thick, a stark contrast to the overcast sky and light snowfall fluttering down around them. She exhaled slowly and watched her warm breath react to the crisp air and wondered how her allies were faring against the homunculus foe. What an interesting war they were on the verge of starting. Her whole career she prided herself on her fortress and defense, now she was planning to take down her own government with a motley crew of alchemists, kids, foreigners, chimera and a homunculus.

She never really did trust Mustang, he always struck her as an ass kisser who thought himself invincible. Young and foolish, he had proven her point by screwing his Lieutenant and getting her pregnant. However even she had to admit it all seemed too convenient, that the scandal had been laid at Bradley's feet on a silver platter. A war hero and powerful alchemist, Mustang was a serious threat and his rise in the ranks worried a lot of people. Still, she hadn't been surprised and filed it away as another moron who did his thinking with the wrong head and paid for it.

Then Edward Elric showed up and reminded her of that little fiasco from five years ago. He had been Mustang's prize, the Fullmetal Alchemist bought the man another star for his epaulet and helped push him up the ladder another rung. Now, however, Fullmetal was under the direct command of Bradley and the surprising young man had managed to find out quite a bit. The military was corrupted by disillusioned top brass seduced by a group of homunculus offering eternal life. Bradley was one of the homunculus. Philosopher stones were made out of people. The Promised Day was coming and it sure as hell sounded like the apocalypse. Oh, and by the way, I still work for Mustang and he needs your help to spring him from some old haunted hotel in the mountains. The little shit even topped it off with a cheesy grin.

She had sat there in her office staring at the kid. A stare that usually sent her men running, but this teenager just kept telling her everything. Nobody in Central could be trusted, they killed Hughes for finding all this out. Grumman was practically exiled in East City thanks to the Mustang scandal and the old man had told him the only one left that could be trusted was her. She threw the dumb kid in the brig and a week later got a visit from Solf Kimblee and some huge slug of a monster digging a tunnel under her fort. Kimblee was half dead and babbling about an Ishvalian named Scar, so they dumped him in the infirmary with a lovely cocktail of sedatives and confiscated narcotics to keep him out of the way. He was much more amusing when he was babbling about the sky tasting purple and how he could see noises. She released the Elrics to help with the monster that they swore was a homunculus and was impressed with the kids' resolve even if she wondered if they were some magnet for disaster and destruction. No surprise that they worked for Mustang.

No sooner did they engage the monster did General Raven show up. It confirmed her suspicions that the Elrics were harbingers of chaos. She could count the amount of official visitors they saw in Briggs in one year on her right hand. If anything gave her an indication that the kids had been telling the truth it was this odd arrival of all these special guests. Raven offered her an immortal army and told her to leave their new monster alone. He was dead soon after and she was dragging the little alchemist into her office by his fancy coat. It was his lucky day, she was going to help him save his precious Flame Alchemist and they were going to go pay Fuhrer Bradley a visit. _Hope you were serious about saving the world because you're knee deep in it now, kid. _Cue cheesy grin again.

So here she stood watching the smoke rise over the mountains waiting for Captain Buccaneer and the retrieval squad to return with their prizes. She wondered how long it would take for Mustang to set his sites on Fuhrer and try to regain everything he lost. That would be something to worry about later. Right now she needed him and his resources to be the wild cards in this fight, especially since they seemed to be the only ones capable of killing the damned homunculus.

She raised an eyebrow as figures in white coats appeared out of the treeline. The voices of Elric and Mustang rang across the distance and grated on her nerves, but at least it appeared that everyone survived. She could see a child perched on Mustang's shoulders, waving at her, and Mrs. Mustang with a rifle in her arms and a dog at her side. It was time to take back this country, she thought and let a smile touch her lips.

* * *

**Author Note:**

When I originally wrote it for the Livejournal fma fic contest there was that moment of OMG this is perfect and I started writing. Then the nerd in me started researching and I really wanted to add an underlying struggle within the hotel that mimicked the King/Kubrick battle. Pride would be the novel and King who wanted a "inhuman evil" and played it out as just suspense and supernatural, the evil in the shadows. Envy would take the 70s movie and Kubrick's "domestic tragedy and psychological games" approach and play the parts by changing shape himself. Pride conveying his terror with words and fear of the supernatural, Envy looking for the theatrical performance as he pushes to shatter the mind. Like everything I write it was a blend of everything: this one all the FMAs, the Shining book, both movies and the King vs Kubrick history behind them. Plus the nuggets of info I made up because I like to try and make each story I write a little different even if I write the characters the same.

If you enjoyed it, please check out my other stories. I have a few extra stories over at Archive of our Own and I post drabbles, updates and such on my Tumblr acct BleedingCoffee42.

Thank you again for reading.


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